Tiger dies after being injured by poachers

A tiger which was seriously injured by poachers, died at Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve in Bihar's East Champaran district, official sources said on Saturday.

"The seriously injured tiger died on Saturday, a day after it was entangled in an iron trap laid by poachers," the chief conservator of forests, Valmiki Tiger Project told rediff.com.

He said that a team of forest officials were informed by local villagers that a tiger was seriously injured in a trap laid by poachers.

The tiger population is decreasing at an alarming rate in the Valmiki National Park, Bihar's only tiger project.

According to a CAG report released in late 2007, the number of tigers was 33 in 2005, when the last census was conducted, down from 56 in 2002. The CAG report is, however, silent on the reason behind the disappearance of tigers at this tiger reserve.